If you can't fight, the winner will be destroyed, but what if you win?
Zombies are besieging the city, supplies are in short supply, people's hearts are sinister, and the order in the city is in jeopardy. The situation is still precarious.
The things in front of him gave Governor Li a headache, and the lack of hope for the future made him even more desperate.
However, in the land of Jin Dynasty, Magistrate Li was not the only one who was worried.
The officials and gentry in various prefectures and counties who are threatened by zombies are now bigger than the last, and many people are in a situation that is much more dangerous than Magistrate Li.
Of course, the intensity of the zombie spread becomes milder as you go south, but it is still enough to make people frightened.
In early March, the imperial court issued a precautionary edict. At that time, many local officials, including officials in the capital, expressed doubts about the contents of the edict.
Nowadays, zombies are causing chaos and hitting many people in the face.
Nowadays, no one in the court doubts whether the zombies are real or fake, and "epidemic" prevention is also actively carried out in various places, without any need for supervision from the court.
The focus of the imperial court also shifted to epidemic prevention, and the army was mobilized to eliminate zombies, especially to prevent zombies north of the river from crossing the river.
Fortunately, there is a river that runs from east to west, blocking the high density of zombies in the four northern counties. Otherwise, it would be impossible to defend against the long river defense line.
However, although there are fewer zombies in several counties in the Central Plains, there is a tendency for zombies to spread due to improper response by local governments.
From April to now, Emperor Zhao Yongcheng issued twenty-five orders in a row regarding the extermination of zombies, just because there was turmoil around the capital.
But the decree was not about heavenly soldiers and generals, and the spread of zombies had not been curbed, which made him more and more anxious and angry.
However, one wave after another emerged, and now the court is divided into two groups regarding the general strategy for dealing with zombies.
One party believes that the defense line of the river should be defended, and based on this, the zombies to the south of the river should be eliminated, while at the same time strictly preventing the zombies from spreading to the south of the river.
The other side believes that troops should be sent across the river to rescue people, eliminate the zombies and regain the city.
There is no doubt that officials’ opinions are based on their own interests, which is also due to human nature.
Recovering the north is now purely a delusion, so Zhao Yongcheng directly rejected it, but the dispute did not end there.
There are zombies in various places in several counties in the Central Plains. It is simply unrealistic to eliminate them all in a short time. We can only focus on clearing out a certain place and then work step by step.
So a new problem arose. The order of elimination among the seven counties on both sides of the river could not be determined at all. Officials all wanted to seek benefits for their hometowns.
The long-term quarrel and wrangling resulted in the inability to finalize the purge plan. Although the elite imperial army was assembled and available, it could not even clear the area around the capital.
There is a quarrel in the court, and the same goes for local yamen at all levels. In addition, the combat power of each capital's guard station is stretched, and it is even more difficult to curb the spread of zombies.
In the Qian'an Palace, Emperor Zhao Yongcheng was sitting behind a desk. He had just summoned three cabinet ministers and said a lot of useless words.
"If all the ministries of the imperial court and the guards of the imperial army can strictly implement the decree and cooperate sincerely... not to mention eliminating the monsters and preventing them from spreading south of the river, it will be possible!" Zhao Yongcheng sighed.
But he also knew that it was simply impossible for the civil and military leaders to work together as one, not even his ancestor Taizong could do it.
In fact, the imperial court has gone through many reforms over the course of more than a hundred years in order to maintain the imperial power through the coordination of various parties. It is not surprising that it is like today.
The only good news is that the three cabinet ministers have reached an agreement and are willing to persuade the officials of the court to compromise with each other and come up with strategies to quell the chaos as soon as possible.
"Your Majesty, it's dinner time..." the eunuch Chen Changhe reminded.
"Pass it..."
"yes!"
Dinner was served in the fine room next door. When Zhao Yongcheng moved, Wang An, the editor-in-chief and supervisor, entered the hall.
"Slave Wang An, come and see the Emperor!"
Stopping, Zhao Yongcheng looked sideways and asked, "What's the matter?"
If you come here at this time, there must be something big going on, and it's probably not good news.
"Reporting to the Emperor, the rebels in Huaiyang County captured the eighteen cities of Shuanghe Yuxing Prefecture, and the leader of the thieves, Wu Pingshan, rebelled and proclaimed himself emperor!"
Upon hearing this, Zhao Yongcheng's vision went dark, and his whole body collapsed and fell back.
Fortunately, there were many eunuchs around, who quickly supported the emperor's body and moved him to the dragon couch beside him.
After settling the emperor and ordering people to send the imperial doctor, Chen Changhe glanced at Wang An.
"The Lord is in the Nine Provinces and has everything to do. Why bother with these little things to attract the Lord..."
Before Chen Changhe could finish speaking, Zhao Yongcheng on the dragon bed opened his eyes, prompting him to quickly take care of him.
When Zhao Yongcheng sat up, he saw Wang An kneeling in front of the dragon couch.
"The imperial court paid 1.2 million taels of silver to appease the Huaiyang rebels. Five days ago, the governor of Huaiyang reported that the rebels had been dispersed and resettled... Why did the situation become what it is now?" Zhao Yongcheng tried hard to suppress his anger.
"Reporting to your Majesty, according to the news from Huaiyang, the reason why the rebels revolted is because..."
"Say!" Zhao Yongcheng slammed the table and angrily shouted.
"It's because the local government in Huaiyang embezzled money from the imperial relief fund..."
"It is said that there are officials who collect the children of common people and sell them to the gentry as slaves in large numbers, and..."
The further he listened, the angrier Zhao Yongchen became.
Zhao Yongcheng knew that officials were making money and exploiting people, but he didn't expect these people to have such no bottom line.
The imperial court raised officials, which directly raised gravediggers.
"The government is corrupt and murders people. Why didn't the editors notice it?"
Why didn't you notice? How could Wang An not know what happened to the people below?
At this time, Zhao Yongcheng asked sharply: "How much money did they take from others? How much filial piety did you receive?"
One sentence frightened Wang An so much that his body couldn't help but tremble.
"Your Majesty, this servant doesn't know about this, let alone take a tael of silver from them. This slave has always been loyal to the Emperor!"
At this time, the first priority is of course to deny and show loyalty. As for whether the money was taken or not, what to say about this matter...
"Hmph... Loyalty, loyalty is blocked by money, how much benefit do you have by nagging yourself? Do you really want me to point it out for you?"
"Prince, slave..." At this time, Wang An really felt the danger, because the emperor's words were so "true".
When Wang An felt like he was on fire, he heard Zhao Yongcheng scolding him: "Go and find out what's going on, get out..."
"Yes...yes, slave, go right now!"
Wang An rolled out of the hall, knowing that his life was temporarily saved today.
The most important thing at the moment is to quickly find out the situation in Huaiyang and order the eunuchs in various places to keep their minds clear and prevent such accidents from happening again.
Wang An left the main hall and met Concubine Duan, so he immediately knelt down to salute.
He, Wang An, had just escaped with his life, and Concubine Duan had been very angry recently, so he, Wang An, did not dare to neglect her in the slightest.
Fortunately, Concubine Duan ignored him and went directly into the hall, which made Wang An really relieved.
Besides, in the main hall, Zhao Yongcheng leaned on his chair with his forehead in his hands, closing his eyes and thinking.
Everyone around was as silent as cicadas, and you could hear a needle drop in the hall.
But then, the sound of footsteps in the hall made Zhao Yongcheng open his eyes and glanced at Chen Changhe with a cold gaze.
Chen Changhe's heart tightened, and he secretly cursed who was so unruly and unhappy to come to the emperor at this time.
So he took three steps and two steps at a time. Just as he was about to scold her, he saw that the person coming was none other than Concubine Duan.
So he could only turn around and remind Zhao Yongcheng in a low voice: "Your Majesty, Concubine Duan is here..."
Zhao Yongcheng nodded and said nothing more. He knew the purpose of Concubine Duan's visit.
After entering the main hall, she glanced left and right, and then Concubine Duan scolded: "You slaves are becoming more and more unruly and unruly, why don't you serve the emperor for dinner!"
After reprimanding the eunuchs in Qian'an Palace, Concubine Duan was the only one left in the harem.
At this time, Zhao Yongcheng asked: "My beloved concubine, why are you here?"
Originally, she wanted to lay the groundwork, but now that the emperor asked, Concubine Duan got straight to the point.
"Your Majesty, now that ghosts are raging in the world, I only have a child like Xun'er. You must find him back!"
"A man with white hair gives a man with black hair, I don't want to go through this again..."
Speaking of the latter part, Concubine Duan knelt directly in front of Zhao Yongcheng and cried on his lap.
Patting Concubine Duan on the shoulder, Zhao Yongcheng comforted him: "I have sent three teams out, all of them are elites of the Forbidden Army. They will bring Xun'er back safely!"
In fact, he also wanted to find Zhao Yanxun, hoping to use his "knowledge" to fight against zombies.
"Chen Changhe..."
"The slave is here!"
"Send two more teams of capable soldiers to bring King Yong back!"
"According to the order!"
By this time, Zhao Yanxun had arrived in Yuanyang and settled down in the palace.
If he knew about the chaos in the DPRK, he would probably be willing to go back. After all, a system with serious internal friction cannot be managed in a short time no matter how powerful he is.
And even if he wants to go back, it is not realistic at the moment because zombies have spread in Longyou and the communication between the outside and inside the customs has been severed.
